On December 9th, 2015, ACES trail cameras captured footage of a Great Horned Owl with a trout in its talons. Current ACES staff have never witnessed this behavior before. Owls typically feed on small rodents, hunting them at night.

In ACES Ed class at Basalt Elementary School, students have the opportunity to observe and experience the amazing transformations that plants undergo throughout the school year. The school garden, trees, bushes and the nearby Frying Pan River are our backdrops for gauging what is happening in the natural world every day.

Male deer, elk, and moose have antlers, which they shed every spring, only to re-grow them again over the summer. ACES staff was lucky to catch a critical part of this annual cycle on our trail cameras recently at Hallam Lake.

Deer and elk typically shed their antlers around March and April, when the animals’ testosterone levels are at their lowest. The decreased amount of testosterone causes the bone connecting the antler to the skull to deteriorate, enabling the antler to fall off.